The Realm of Shadows
As a dark metaphysical plane existing outside of Ayn and between The Realm of Light and The Realm of Dark, the Realm of Shadows acts as a sort of outer shell for Ayn. It is actually the largest plane of existence, including the material plane that most beings inhabit. It's existence serves to ferry wayward souls towards either realm. However, not all souls make it prior to heading to their appropriate destination, and the essence is oft to form itself into new and hideous creatures, unguided and left to its own misshapen devices.
It is home to the shadelings, a group of individuals born from angels and demons and then having fled when Ciel, Goddess of Life, banished most of them to Ayn to live as humans. Their settlements are often hidden and tucked away in small caves or buried underground, serving to help them survive against the harsh world and its many horrors that stalk the surface.
by Jason Chan
Vast expanses of the Realm of Shadow are simply open wasteland, home to the occasional roaming opportunist, whether beast or humanoid.
It's this emptiness and propensity for abrupt conflict that instills this anxiety driven sense of dread and isolation.
"Never trust the rumblings in the Realm of Shadows"
As with any plane, it is possible to enter, usually by portal or spell. Unlike other locations, however, the portal to the Realm of Shadows can both exist, and not exist, in any shadow between the metaphysical plane and the physical plane. This means that a child playing hide and seek who opts to hide in the shadow of a tree could, potentially, be whisked away into the Realm of Shadows. This also goes for beings on plane of shadows, and could explain how some aberrations make their way into Ayn. Fortunately the portals are extremely rare and ever shifting, so even if one was found, it is difficult to exploit for nefarious means.
The Realm of Shadows houses the Broken Battlefield, fielding both angels and demons as they wage eternal war for control over the three realms.
A diagram of Ayn and its planes.by The amazing Zeke
Type
Dimensional plane
Included Locations
There is no color in the Realm of Shadows, or it's better to say that what color there is is extremely muted.
An excellent article. Hello my friend, time for a critback. I love the art first and foremost. I like the quote and would love to see more. A first hand account of how life here is. I also think its terrifying how someone can just be whisked away if they happen to be in shadows. The concept is portrayed beautifully and the writing as always is top notch. Is there a reason the horrors stick to the surface? If all these settlements exist underground in tucked away in caves why don't they venture there as often?
Hello friend, I look forward to reading more on the expedition. I hope you've had good times and have been productive. I'm confused by your question about the horrors sticking to the surface. Do you mean why don't these aberrations hunt the shadelings in their hovels? A good question and I should touch on it a bit more. The short answer is because they're aberrations with limited intelligence. Essence is like an atom or a cell in that it forms, but really with little purpose or intent, especially if left to its own devices. So in effect, these souls are breaking into essence before making it to the realm of light or dark, and because the essence here has no guiding force, it's forming into whatever it wants, so it's making these giant death worms, or shambling horrors with 16 arms, one leg, and two melted faces.
Eh, Working in the web right now not so much the expedition. That is my question and its a good answer for it. Makes alot of sense considering and it very interesting to think of. The concept of life creating things unhindered by rules is pretty cool. I like.